Air Canada announced Wednesday it will begin flying from Denver to Montreal on June 16, becoming the only airline to operate nonstop flights on that route.

United said Wednesday it will begin daily flights to Toronto on June 12.

Air Canada operates three flights a day to Toronto from Denver. United has two flights a day to Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg, and four flights a day to Calgary from Denver. United and Air Canada are members of the Star Alliance airline network.

Montreal is one of the most requested routes, said Denver International Airport’s Sally Covington.

“There’s certainly some activity going on between Canada and Denver,” she said.

The new routes will allow more connections to other cities in the United States and Canada.

Frontier also has expressed interest in flying to Canada and continues to consider the market, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas.

Business and leisure travel are spurring the growth in flights to Canada, said airline and airport officials.

“It’s just terribly important that we have these connections,” said Laura Brandt, manager of economic development at the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

A new Open Skies agreement between Canada and the United States is set to take effect next year, allowing airlines to fly to a third country and lifting restrictions on express cargo services.

Air Canada’s new daily Montreal flight will be operated on the 93-seat Embraer E190 jet, which has a personal entertainment system that includes digital in-seat monitors and audio and video on-demand programming.

Air Canada in July hired Sean Menke as its chief commercial officer from Frontier, where he was chief operating officer.

“I think Sean has a warm spot in his heart for Denver, but I don’t think we’ll have any real competitive issues,” Hodas said.

United’s new Toronto flights will be operated by United Express carrier Shuttle America on Embraer-170 regional jets. United has branded them as “explus,” which provides better service than smaller, 50-seat planes.

United plans to add another daily flight from Denver to Vancouver in June and is also increasing its seasonal service from Denver to Puerto Vallarta.

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